Candlelight (1-Shot)
by RecursiveDestroyer
Summary: Seto comes by Joey's apartment and ends up shedding some light on the situation. Puppyshipping.


It had been a longtime fear of Joey's: Darkness. The only people who knew about it were his father, Tristan, and Buster, his pet husky. The red and white furred husky had been a present from Yuugi when they all graduated high school last year, and the dog was never far from Joey's side. This helped with his fear and anxiety, but that night Buster was having a doggy sleepover with Ryou's dog, Fluffy, upon the white-haired boy's insistence. He was going to be left alone for the night.

He was pacing around his bedroom with his hands shoved into his pockets. He tried to think of everything he could do to keep his fear at bay and went down a mental checklist. Upon deciding that everything was set, he finally put on his pajamas and slowly crawled into bed. The lamps were all positioned strategically around his room and were effectively keeping the night's shadows at bay. That is until the power went out.

A whimper immediately escaped his throat at the resounding pop that resulted from the sudden power loss. Darkness came crashing in around him and all Joey could do was pull his blanket tighter around himself childishly. He tried his best to just lay there and keep his eyes closed as if pretending to be asleep, but his mind was wide awake with fear.

Now, Joey Wheeler wasn't always afraid of the dark. It all started when his father began to drink more often. He didn't exactly remember the event that sparked his fear, but he knew he had to have been very young for it to stick with him for this long.

The quick raps that sounded from the front door down the hall startled Joey but sudden relief washed over him. _Tristan must've come ta check up on me,_ Joey thought with a happy smile. Quickly jumping from the bed and running down the hall, Joey didn't hesitate to unbolt the door and embrace the man standing on the dog print welcome mat.

"Man, am I glad ta see ya!" he said with sudden vigor. "When the lights wen' out an' Busta' wasn' 'ere I thought I'd 'ave a panic attack for sure!" The man Joey was hugging chuckled at the blond's antics, and Joey recognized the sound immediately. The voice that spoke next only confirmed who it was.

"I never thought that the puppy would _ever_ cling to me like this. It almost makes me want to hug back." The tone wasn't sarcastic as it usually was and was oddly more truthful. Yet, those facts went straight over Joey's head.

"K-Kaiba?!" Joey asked in surprise and quickly released the CEO to take a couple steps back. "W-What're ya doin' 'ere? Aren't ya suppose' ta be runnin' your company or something'?" He tried to hide his embarrassment behind his bangs but his reddened cheeks gave it away. He was trying to think of how his crush had not only figured out where he lived but how he knew to show up tonight of all nights. If this wasn't purely coincidental that it but _nothing_ was ever coincidental with Seto Kaiba.

"It's one of my rare nights off," he replied smoothly. "May I come in?" His blue-eyed gaze traveled into Joey's apartment. The living room and half of the small kitchen Kaiba could see were shrouded in shadows. Joey simply nodded and stepped aside so he could enter.

"I can't offa' ya anythin' 'cuz the power's out but," Joey hesitated here, not knowing how Kaiba would react to his next confession considering he still thought that Kaiba disliked him, "I sure could use the company." He took a breath as he shut the door and the darkness became complete once again. He bit his tongue to stop himself from whimpering. There was no way he'd show such weakness in front of Kaiba!

"That's fine," Kaiba's voice came from somewhere within the darkness. "I didn't come here for friendly drinks."

"Then wha' did ya come 'ere for?" Joey asked hesitantly. He was currently feeling his way towards the couch that was placed in the living room. At least there he could ground himself to this world and could focus on controlling his now quick breathing.

A thump sounded to Joey's left and a curse left Kaiba's mouth but not before the brunet heard Joey's unwilled whimper. Turning in the direction that the soft sounded came from, Kaiba began moving towards it. His outstretched hand bumped against something warm, and when he placed his palm against it, it flinched. Kaiba realized that his hand was actually touching Joey's shoulder, and he wondered why the blond was shaking.

"What's wrong, pup?" Kaiba asked but not in a berating tone he usually spoke with.

"N-Nothing," Joey replied back instantly and made to move away only to have Kaiba pull him back so Joey's back was pressed up against Kaiba's chest.

"Don't lie to me," Kaiba said a little bit more forcefully than before.

"I'm…" Joey stopped himself short of saying 'fine' because it really wasn't. He also didn't want to look like a weakling either. Joey was at a loss of what to do.

"It's the dark, isn't it?" Kaiba asked, hitting the nail right on the head. "Mokuba used to be the same way," he supplied before Joey could ask how he knew. There was a rustling sound from Kaiba's jacket and a pair of strong arms wrapped around Joey's torso.

Joey tensed at the motion but soon relaxed when a small light clicked on in front of his face, demanding his attention. His brown eyes grew wide, and his hands instantly reached out to grasp the small plastic container that protected the fake candle flame. Kaiba switched their hands around so Joey's was on the plastic and Kaiba's covered Joey's.

"Now, whenever you're scared of the dark, just turn this on and wait for me to come," Kaiba said softly. His warm breath ghosted across Joey's neck and cheek, and the feeling sent a wonderful shiver down his spine.

"Thank you, Kaiba," Joey whispered but the apartment was so quiet that Kaiba had heard it clearly.

"Anytime, puppy."

Joey was glad that Kaiba had come by. He was able to forget his fear with the help of the billionaire, and he was grateful. He was honestly surprised at how uncharacteristically kind Kaiba was being and then a thought occurred to him. _Does that mean Kaiba likes me back?_ He inwardly shrugged and leaned comfortably back into Kaiba's warm chest, deciding to think about it later. The candlelight glittered softly and before Joey knew it, he was fast asleep in Kaiba's arms.


End file.
